The surprising original casting choices for 'The Holiday' have resurfaced, and are going viral
The Christmas period has seen the annual resurgence of The Holiday, with the 2006 Nancy Meyers romantic comedy considered a yuletide classic.
Starring Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz, the film follows Iris Simpkins from Surrey and LA-based Amanda Woods, as the broken-hearted pair swap homes over the Christmas holidays. And with a star-studded supporting cast including Jude Law, Jack Black and Rufus Sewell, it's easy to see why the film is so popular.
However, The Holiday almost looked very different, with a surprising selection of A-listers almost bagging the leading roles. And as the film resurfaced this season, so too did its casting.
According to reports, Martine McCutcheon almost bagged the role of Iris Simpkins, with the actress on hold to come onboard just days before filming.
"Not many people know this, but I was actually on hold to do The Holiday because Kate Winslet was tied up with a film and she didn't know if she could do The Holiday in time," McCutcheon previously explained. "And the studio let her go so she could do. But Michelle Guish, who was the casting director, said to me a couple of days before filming was due to start, 'Martine, pack your bags, get ready. You're probably going to be starring opposite Jack Black in The Holiday.' But Kate did it. She did an amazing job and I am a huge fan of her."
And in place of Jack Black and Jude Law were very almost two other A-list names - Jimmy Fallon and Robert Downey Jr.
The duo recalled auditioning for the film during an interview on SiriusXM’s The Howard Stern Show, attending a script reading with Winslet and Diaz and thinking: "It’s about to happen for us."
"I was in a hotel room with Robert Downey Jr., Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet, and we read this script," recalled Jimmy Fallon. "I said, ‘If Jack Black says no to this movie, I’m so in. I’ll do it for half his price.’”
"I was like, ‘I got to have a better British accent than Jude Law at this point,’” Downey Jr. recalled. "And Winslet said, ‘That is the worst British accent I have ever heard.' I was like, ‘I’ll check out now, but I’m taking the gummy bears from the minibar.'
"Nancy said to both of us at the same time, ‘This was great. It’s just not a perfect fit,'" he continued.
These casting revelations are not the only to resurface around the film this month, with both director Nancy Meyers and star Jude Law going viral for their comments about the 2006 release.
Meyers' revelation came about during her recent appearance on the Hollywood Gold podcast, where she revealed that she doesn't see The Holiday as a Christmas film.
“I know it’s called 'The Holiday' because they’re taking a holiday, but it could have been called that if it was in the summer," she explained. "Everybody sees it as a Christmas movie, and when I watched it last night to prepare, I was a little shocked at how much Christmas was in it."
And weeks previously, The Holiday actor Jude Law caused controversy after revealing on BBC Radio 2 that the famous cottage from the romantic comedy does not actually exist.
"I mean, I find it just, honestly glorious," Law explained when asked how he feels about the film's resurgence each year. But when hosts Zoe Ball and Kerry Godliman mentioned the theory that the famed cottage was on Air BnB, Law replied: "That cottage doesn't exist."
"So the director - she's a bit of a perfectionist," Law explained of Meyers. "She toured the whole area and didn't quite find the chocolate box cottage she was looking for. So she just hired a field and drew it, and had someone build it.
The Holiday is available to watch now on Netflix.
